... Lebanese forensic experts gather evidence from the site of a car bomb, that targeted Al-Aytam service station the day before and left at least four people dead, in the town of Hermel, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley, on February 2, 2014. (Photo:AFP/STR) ..>>> Sedikitnya 5 orang tewas dan beberapa lainnya terluka dalam serangan dua bom di selatan ibukota Libanon, Beirut....>> Brigade Abdullah Azzam yang berafiliasi dengan Qaeda telah mengaku bertanggung jawab dalam pemboman itu dan mengatakan akan melanjutkan serangan mereka terhadap Iran dan Hizbullah....>> Menurut laporan hari Rabu (19/2/14), serangan terjadi di lingkungan selatan Bir Hassan dekat Kanselir Budaya Iran dan Kedutaan Kuwait...>>> Pangeran Charles menarikan tarian pedang yang dikenal dengan sebutan Ardah dalam festival budaya Janadriyah di Arab Saudi.....>>

Terorisme Global

Bom Kembar Kembali Guncang Beirut, 5 Tewas

Islam Times - Brigade Abdullah Azzam yang berafiliasi dengan Qaeda telah mengaku bertanggung jawab dalam pemboman itu dan mengatakan akan melanjutkan serangan mereka terhadap Iran dan Hizbullah.

http://www.islamtimes.org/vdch6xnxx23nmxd.yrt2.html

 

TKP ledakan bom mobil di selatan Beirut, Lebanon.jpg

 

Sedikitnya 5 orang tewas dan beberapa lainnya terluka dalam serangan dua bom di selatan ibukota Libanon, Beirut.

Menurut laporan hari Rabu (19/2/14), serangan terjadi di lingkungan selatan Bir Hassan dekat Kanselir Budaya Iran dan Kedutaan Kuwait.

Brigade Abdullah Azzam yang berafiliasi dengan Qaeda telah mengaku bertanggung jawab dalam pemboman itu dan mengatakan  akan melanjutkan serangan mereka terhadap Iran dan Hizbullah.
Ibukota Libanon berulang kali mengalami serangan teroris serupa dalam beberapa bulan terakhir. Sejumlah besar warga telah kehilangan nyawa mereka dalam aksi pemboman tersebut.

Lebih dari dua lusin orang, termasuk atase kebudayaan Iran untuk Beirut, tewas dan sedikitnya 150 lainnya terluka pada bulan November tahun lalu setelah dua ledakan bom menghantam wilayah dekat Kedutaan Besar Iran di Beirut selatan.[IT/r]

 

Gantikan Bandar, Nayef Langsung Persenjatai Takfiri Suriah

Islam Times- http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcftmdmcw6dt1a.,8iw.html

 

David Ignatius menulis di Washington Post bahwa para kepala dinas intelijen Barat dan Arab bertemu di Washington selama dua hari pekan lalu, dalam upaya mengkoordinasikan operasi mendukung para teroris Suriah.

 

Mohammed bin Nayef (REUTERS)

Dicopotnya Bandar bin Sultan dari jabatan kepala dinas intelijen dan penasihat luar negeri ternyata sama sekali tidak mengubah kebijakan politik luar negeri Kerajaan Arab Saudi yang selama ini sangat arogan dan agresif. Faktanya, negara bedebah Wahhabi itu masih terus menyokong para teroris takfiri yang memberontak di Suriah.

Sumber media AS mengatakan bahwa posisi Bandar "bos teroris takfiri" bin Sultan diserahkan kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri Arab Saudi, Pangeran Mohammed bin Nayef, yang ditugaskan untuk menukangi proses mempersenjatai para teroris pemberontak di Suriah.

David Ignatius menulis di Washington Post bahwa para kepala dinas intelijen Barat dan Arab bertemu di Washington selama dua hari pekan lalu, dalam upaya mengkoordinasikan operasi mendukung para teroris Suriah.

Tampaknya, imbuh penulis AS itu, Menteri Dalam Negeri Arab Saudi, Pangeran Mohammed bin Nayef, yang diutus untuk menghadiri pertemuan rahasia, telah menjadi pengawas utama seputar masalah Arab Saudi yang diam-diam mempersenjatai (kawanan teroris takfiri di Suriah), menggantikan Bandar bin Sultan.

Menurut Ignatius, peran baru pangeran Mohammed mencerminkan keprihatinan Arab Saudi dan negara-negara lain atas makin kuatnya al-Qaida dalam tubuh pemberontak Suriah. Salah tugasnya sebagai menteri dalam negeri adalah mengkoordinasikan kontra-terorisme, dan ini membuatnya terus-menerus menjalin kontak dengan pihak CIA dan badan intelijen Barat lainnya.

Lebih jauh, ia menunjuk pada pertemuan yang digelar antara Pangeran Mohammed dan Penasihat Keamanan Nasional AS Susan Rice guna membahas strategi ini. Kendati sumber media AS menunjukkan bahwa Obama masih bimbang terhadap eskalasi konflik di Suriah, yang dapat menyeret AS terlibat langsung.

Ignatius mengatakan bahwa para kepala intelijen Arab menuntut CIA memperbanyak jumlah teroris yang dilatih di Yordania yang selama bulan berjalan baru berjumlah sekitar 250 orang. Namun pejabat AS mengatakan bahwa mereka ingin memastikan kemampuan kelompok bersenjata itu dengan lebih dulu mengakomodasi mereka. (IT/BN/rj)

 

Hubungan Inggris-Saudi

Pangeran Charles Menari di Saudi

Islam Times -

 

Mengenakan pakaian tradisional dan membawa pedang, Prince of Wales bergabung dengan anggota keluarga kerajaan Saudi untuk merayakan 17 hari festival tahunan Janadriyah di ibukota Riyadh, Selasa (18/2/14).

 

Prince Charles, tari pedang dalam festival Janadriyah di Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Pangeran Charles menarikan tarian pedang yang dikenal dengan sebutan Ardah dalam festival budaya Janadriyah di Arab Saudi.

Mengenakan pakaian tradisional dan membawa pedang, Prince of Wales bergabung dengan anggota keluarga kerajaan Saudi untuk merayakan 17 hari festival tahunan Janadriyah di ibukota Riyadh, Selasa (18/2/14).

Pangeran Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, wakil perdana menteri kedua dan mantan kepala agen mata-mata Saudi, menjadi tuan rumah putra Ratu Inggris itu.

Pangeran Charles melakukan perjalanan ke Timur Tengah mulai dari Arab Saudi pada tanggal 17 Februari lalu dan berakhir di Qatar 20 Februari.

Sebelumnya, kelompok HAM menyeru Pangeran berusia 65 tahun itu untuk mengangkat isu-isu HAM dalam perjalanannya.

"Jika ada kesempatan untuk diskusi terbuka tentang isu-isu HAM, kita ingin dia [Pangeran Charles] melakukannya," kata Allan Hogarth, Kepala Kebijakan dan Urusan Pemerintahan di Amnesty International UK.

Keprihatinan Amnesty tentang catatan HAM Arab Saudi termasuk hukuman mati, kebebasan berbicara dan aksi protes, pengadilan yang zalim, penyiksaan dan hak-hak perempuan.[IT/r]

 

 

Death haunts Beirut's southern suburbs

http://english.al-akhbar.com/photoblogs/death-haunts-beiruts-southern-suburbs

A twin suicide attack claimed the lives of six people on Wednesday, in the busy neighbourhood of Bir Hassan, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Al-Qaeda affiliated group Abdallah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks.

This is the sixth suicide attack to have taken place in Lebanon since the start of 2014.

Al-Akhbar's Marwan Tahtah, Marwan Bou Haydar, and Haytham Moussawi were at the scene of today's attacks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A car bomb's journey between Syria and Lebanon

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/car-bombs-journey-between-syria-and-lebanon

 

Lebanese forensic experts gather evidence from the site of a car bomb, that targeted Al-Aytam service station the day before and left at least four people dead, in the town of Hermel, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley, on February 2, 2014. (Photo:AFP/STR)

 

Published Thursday, February 20, 2014

 

Two terrorist bombings, carbon copies from last November's twin bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut, shook Lebanon on Wednesday, leaving behind ten martyrs and more than a hundred wounded. Interior Minister Nouhad al-Machnouk came to the fore and called for the closing of "the death crossings" between Lebanon and Syria.

Post-bombing news has become routine. Security agencies will begin looking for the car's make, its journey, the size of the explosive device, and the identity of the suicide bomber. These details were quickly revealed. Two car bombs, driven by two suicide bombers, exploded in Bir Hassan in Beirut's southern suburbs yesterday morning and killed 10 people.

"The stolen car crossings from Lebanon to Syria are helping the terrorist Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which is boobytrapping cars and sending them back to Lebanon."

The first car, which was supposed to be heading to the Iranian Cultural Center, was a 4x4 BMW, with around 100 kilograms of explosives. Details about the other car, a Mercedes, are still unknown. Its license plate is fake and the chassis number does not exist on Lebanese lists.

The history of the BMW is already known. In June 2013, it was rented by someone known to be a car thief, who sold it for $600 to a young man from northern Bekaa, A. M., who then delivered it to another young man in Brital, also in northern Bekaa. The second person is an expert at forging car papers so as to sell the car later, as if it is legitimate. He distributes his products through a stolen car dealer in the same town.

The dealer has close ties to colleagues in the car theft and trade business inside Syria. The car that exploded yesterday was bought by Syrian dealers who are active with the armed Syrian opposition. They brought it into Syria through the town of Assal al-Ward (in Qalamoun), controlled by the opposition.

Through the dealers, the car ended up with a group connected with the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. They set it up with explosives and brough it back to Lebanon through the town of Ersal in north Bekaa.

On the same day of the bombing, the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) presented this information to the Minister of Interior and Municipalities Nouhad al-Machnouk. As soon as the minister arrived to the scene of the crime, he said: "The stolen car crossings from Lebanon to Syria are helping the terrorist Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which is boobytrapping cars and sending them back to Lebanon."

Machnouk called on concerned political forces to help stop the transport of cars from Brital to Syria, referring to Hezbollah. Politically, his statements were explained as an attempt to split the responsibility between his side and his adversaries in the cabinet. In other words, he wanted to say, "The responsibility of the blood in Dahiyeh does not merely fall on the known terrorist group in Ersal. It has partners, the group of thieves in Brital." However, Machnouk does not believe his words should be politicized. They are linked with the security of innocent people who are being killed by suicidal terrorism.

The reply to Machnouk came from Brital itself, through a statement demanding that he stops the thieves, who are no more than 10, in comparison to the town's population of 30,000. "They only care for the money," the statement read. "If you wanted to know them more, ask your buddies in Ersal who set up the car bombs."

Machnouk's statements are based on a report prepared by the Information Branch of the ISF. It indicated that all the car bombs rigged in Syria and detonated in Lebanon in the past year had passed through Brital, with the exception of the car bomb in Bir al-Abed, whose journey is still not completely known.

The report also indicated that the top stolen car dealer in north Bekaa, M. T., is based in Brital. Wanted by security forces for more than 10 years, he is always on the move and in hiding. He sells most of the stolen cars he buys to associates in Syria.

Since the beginning of the war across the borders, Syrian gangs became interested in buying cars from Lebanon, which are not stolen. M. T. started cooperating with a counterfeiter to forge car papers and sell them in Syria as legitimate. He does not care for the political or sectarian affiliations of the car buyers.

In Lebanon, also, he is assisted by car thieves of all political and sectarian affiliations. One of them, A. M., had bought the BMW and is being held in Lebanese prisons. He had taken seven cars to Brital after renting them legitimately.

"However, there are 150,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Ersal today. How could any security agency work there freely? The issue requires a comprehensive security plan and the cooperation of all security forces."

Another suspect, who delivered around 50 Kias to M. T. in the past years, is also in custody. The main bulk were sold by M. T. and A. M. to Syrian dealers working with the resistance in Qalamoun.

There is a solid conviction at the Information Branch that the closure of the "death crossings" between Brital and Qalamoun and between Qalamoun and Ersal would reduce the likelihood of car bombings by 50 percent.

What about the Ersal group helping the terrorists set up car bombs and bring them into Lebanon? Aren't they known and why are they not being stopped? "They are known," a concerned security source replied. "However, there are 150,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Ersal today. How could any security agency work there freely? The issue requires a comprehensive security plan and the cooperation of all security forces."

In this regard, security officials are hoping that the new government will promote cooperation between security agencies more than in the past, after the period of "stagnation" in the last month of the caretaking period.

In another area of investigations, security forces identified a young man called Nidal al-Moughir as the prime suspect who detonated the BMW yesterday. Nidal's father identified the picture of the suspect disseminated by the army yesterday.

Nidal is a partisan of Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and has been fighting in Qalamoun in Syria for the past months. He is a Palestinian living in the town of Bissarieh (Caza Zahrani), the home of the suicide bomber Abdullah al-Mohammed who blew up himself in the Iranian embassy attack. Moughir's home in the town was torched by "unknown assailants" yesterday. Security forces have also conducted DNA tests to confirm whether he was the suicide bomber or not.

In related news, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack on the Iranian Cultural Center, linking it to Hezbollah's involvement in the fighting in Syria.

Al-Akhbar obtained information that the Information Branch arrested a young man, M. A. A., in Tariq al-Jdideh early Thursday morning. He admitted to being part of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades and had been charged with surveilling the Iranian Cultural Center and al-Manar's building in Bir Hassan (hundreds of meters apart) by Sheikh Siraj al-Din Zureiqat.

Last Saturday in Tariq al-Jdideh, the Information Branch detained a group whose members are suspected of having relations with the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

(Al-Akhbar)